Epilepsy: Attitude and Awareness among Students of Professional Social Work

Dublin Core

Title

Epilepsy: Attitude and Awareness among Students of Professional Social Work

Subject

Epilepsy
Social
Cultural
Psychological and economic effects
Medical social work
Psychiatric social work

Description

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders that affect approximately 50 million peopleworldwide, with the prevalence of 1% in the population.Nearly 80% of people with epilepsy are found indeveloping countries, where the disease remains a majorpublic health problem. It is not only because of its healthimplications but also for its social, cultural, psychologicaland economic effects. The person with epilepsy goesthrough many difficulties such as unpredictability of theseizures, adjustmental demands on personal and worklife, family coping, problems in marital relationship,issues surrounding children, economic burden, andstigma about the disease apart from the access totreatment. Managing a chronic illness such as epilepsyinvolves more than managing medical problems. Socialworkers, as change agents, can fulfil their roles aseducators, counsellors, and patient-advocates by helpingpatients and families to gain insight into the implicationsof chronic illness. The present cross sectional study wasconducted among the Master of Social Work (MSW)students specialising in Medical and Psychiatric SocialWork, with an attempt to look at the Knowledge and Attitude about Epilepsy. Thirty one students of Master ofSocial Work course with Medical and Psychiatric SocialWork (males = 9; females = 22; age = 23.61, range 22-28years) from different colleges in South India filled thequestionnaire developed to assess the knowledge andattitudes about Epilepsy. All the respondents had heardabout Epilepsy. The study revealed that while there isgood awareness about Epilepsy among the students,majority of them felt that persons with Epilepsy shouldhave restrictions in movement (84%) and that they havelimitations in employment (58%). The implications of thestudy from knowledge development, research andpractice are discussed.

Creator

Rajaram, Prakashi
Treesa Thomas, Priya

Source

Artha Journal of Social Sciences; Vol. 12 No. 2 (2013): Artha Journal of Social Sciences; 61-72
0000-0000
0975-329X

Publisher

Centre for Publications, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore

Date

2013-04-01

Rights

Copyright (c) 2016 Artha - Journal of Social Sciences
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0

Relation

Format

application/pdf

Language

eng

Type

info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Peer-reviewed Article
Text

Identifier

Citation

Prakashi Rajaram and Treesa Thomas, Priya, Epilepsy: Attitude and Awareness among Students of Professional Social Work, Centre for Publications, CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bangalore, 2013, accessed November 6, 2024, https://igi.indrastra.com/items/show/143

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